If you've ever purchased a personal organizer, you know that just because you own it doesn't mean your life magically becomes uncluttered. You have to develop some positive behaviors before you can take advantage of your new gadget. Here are some tips to help you stay on track:

Make a note of important dates. Create a list of birthdays, anniversaries and other regular events. You can later enter this list into a device like a smart phone or use calendar software to set up automatic reminders. A timely reminder might save you a night in the dog house.

Create schedules and to-do lists. Have you ever focused more on how much you have to do than actually doing it? As the list of tasks piles up, we tend to get caught up in the notion that there's not enough time to get everything done. Making a list helps us prioritize our tasks and often shows us that there's not as much to do as we imagine. Once you prioritize your tasks, you can tackle them one at a time. It's also important to check off tasks once you've completed them. This gives you a sense of accomplishment and can serve as a motivator for the next task.

Avoid procrastination. This one can be tricky -- when faced with a tedious chore or unpleasant task, many of us will try to find some way to avoid doing it for as long as possible. It's better to complete these tasks when you can. After all, they aren't always as bad as we make them out to be and it may not even take very long to complete the job. And best of all, the feeling of relief you get when you finish a particularly mundane chore can improve your mood.

Manage your stress. If you concentrate on a single task at a time and avoid procrastination, you'll also reduce stress. But if you let tasks pile up and focus more on how your workload is getting larger, you'll feel more stress. Sometimes the biggest hurdle is getting started. It's also a good idea to take breaks throughout the day. Deep breathing can help relieve stress and exercise is also a good way to relieve tension.

Now let's take a look at how technology can help streamline your life.